We celebrated two sets of Youth Citizens of the Month, and their families, at our March 12 meeting. Clockwise from top left: Annabelle Rocha (Gaston Jr./Sr. High), Deztanee Sandoval (Gaston Jr./Sr. High), McKenna King (Banks High School) and Adelene Stewart (Banks Middle School).

If you did not make it to our last Rotary Club of Forest Grove meeting, here is what you missed…

This Week – Crab Feed: We hope to see many of you this week at our annual Crab Feed! Our social event begins at 5:30 p.m., at the Forest Grove Senior & Community Center. Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. The evening’s program will include entertainment, a dessert dash (with proceeds benefitting The Rotary Foundation) and the recognition of our newest Paul Harris Fellows and those reaching their next Paul Harris level.As a reminder, we will not have a noon meeting on Wednesday.

Our special thanks to our Crab Feed Committee, chaired by Julia Kollar, for putting together this special evening of celebration and fellowship!

Upcoming Meetings: We will not hold a meeting on Wednesday, March 26 as we take the week off for spring break. We will return to our noon meetings on Wednesday, April 2, in the Boxer Pause Room on the campus of Pacific University.

No Satellite Meeting This Month: There will be no Satellite Club meeting this month in order to allow members to attend and enjoy the Crab Feed.

Satellite Club/Rotary Garden Work Party: Members of the Satellite Club are picking up additional responsibilities in maintaining the McDougall Garden, our public garden project located near the big flag pole where Pacific Avenue and 19th Avenue come together. A planning session with Garden Committee chair Geoff Faris and Satellite Club members is scheduled for this Saturday, Mar. 22, 9:30 a.m., at the garden. All who are interested are welcome to attend and Satellite Club members are strongly encouraged to attend.

March Madness Is Here Again!: It is March, which means that it is time for the college basketball tournaments. That also means that it is time for our annual March Madness fundraiser for The Rotary Foundation. It costs just $10 per bracket to participate and you can enter as many brackets as you wish. All brackets will be through the Yahoo Sports portal we have used in the past. The top brackets will receive points contributed towards their first or next Paul Harris Fellow. If you wish to participate, please contact president Lucas Welliver. Brackets will need to be completed by the time the first round games begin on Thursday, March 20.

Rotary Foundation Giving Update: Our club continues to be ardent supporters of The Rotary Foundation! As of March 15, we have exceeded our goal for TRF annual fund contributions, raising so far $10,114 out of our goal of $7,500. We have also reached $2,418 of our goal of $3,000 for PolioPlus, which we expect to pass very soon. To date, 31 of our 73 members have made TRF contributions this Rotary year.

It is never too late to think about making a contribution to The Rotary Foundation and the good TRF dollars make within our community and around the world. To make a one-time donation, or to set up a recurring donation through Rotary Direct, visit the Rotary International website or contact club Foundation Chair Michael Yakos.

Save The Date – Steak Feed: Make sure to mark Friday, June 6 on your calendar for our annual Steak Feed at Pacific University. This is one of our two big fundraisers of the year with proceeds from the evening benefitting our involvement in the Rotary Youth Exchange program. This is an all-hands-on-deck event and we need all of our members to be there and make the event a great success.

As in past years, we will have tickets for club members to sell coming up in a few weeks. Tickets will be $25 and will include a choice New York steak, salad, rolls, beans, drinks and dessert. For more information, contact Steak Feed chair Geoff Faris.

Concours Sponsorships: The Concours Committee is actively procuring sponsors for the 2025 show, which takes place on Sunday, July 20. If you know of a business or individual that might be interested in sponsoring our signature event, please contact Janet Peters at 503-679-6479 or rjlc4peters@msn.com, or Amy Tracewell at 541-844-9467 or amy.tracewell@pacificu.edu.

Pickleball Evenings – Presented By Rotary: The Rotary Club of Forest Grove is helping to sponsor indoor pickleball Monday through Thursday evenings at the Forest Grove National Guard Armory, 2950 Taylor Way. Coordinated by Rotarian Steven Barnard, the evenings run from 5:30 to 8 p.m. There is a $5 fee to help cover facility rental. Players of all ages and ability levels are welcome with reserved courts for beginners and intermediate-level players.

Proceeds from the pickleball evenings go to cover facility rental for the armory, but also to help fund the Forest Grove School District Community Alternative Learning Center’s (CALC) Career & Technical Education (CTE) Fridays. At our Jan. 29 meeting, our club presented a $5,000 check to Tim Graham, principal of CALC, to benefit the program.

For more information on the pickleball evenings, please contact Steven at 443-454-5177 or sbarnard@fgsd.k12.or.us.

Have A Program Idea? Let Hector Know!: Do you have an idea for a program presentation that you would like to see at our meetings? Let our incoming program director, Hector Mendez-Colberg know as he is setting up the schedule for 2025.

Greeters Are Back: President Lucas is bringing back the role of having greeters at our weekly meetings. This role will not be pre-assigned. Instead, the ninth and 10th Rotarians showing up a meeting each week will serve as greeters. Please be prepared to take on that responsibility and let President Lucas know if you have any questions.

Service Opportunities For Club Members
Do You Know Of Service Opportunities?: Are you aware of service opportunities in our area that our members might be interested in? We can advertise those here! This space is not limited to club-sponsored activities but to any service opportunity in the community. To promote the service activity, please send a detailed description of the project, the date and time, contact information and a link to register to Rototeller editor Blake Timm, blakertimm@gmail.com.

CALC Volunteer Opportunities: Forest Grove School District’s Community Alternative Learning Center (CALC) has two volunteer opportunities for Rotarians and friends. The school is looking for volunteers to assist with interviewing students for mock job interviews. There will be another opportunity forthcoming on a victory garden that is being planted at school. Both opportunities will take place at a date to be determined.

If you are interested in either opportunity or if you have questions, please contact principal Tim Graham at 503-730-4490 or tgraham@fgsd.k12.or.us, or Steven Barnard at 443-454-5177 or sbarnard@fgsd.k12.or.us.

FGHS Community Food Pantry: Our club’s support for the Forest Grove High School Food Pantry continues.  Thanks to its partnership with the Oregon Food Bank, food donations are still welcome but are of less need at this time. Of need, however, are toiletries and hygiene products as well as household cleaning materials.

The Food Pantry is open Mondays from 4-5:30 p.m. The pantry is located along Nichols Lane between the football field and the Basinski Center. Click Here for more information on the FGHS Food Pantry and on other resources for those experiencing food insecurity.

For information on the Food Pantry, please contact Brian Burke, bburke@fgsd.k12.or.us. If you wish to make a cash donation to the pantry, Click Here.

Around District 5100
District 5100 Spring Training – April 12: Registration is now open on DacDB for Rotary District 5100’s Spring Training on Saturday, Apr. 12. All sessions this year will be virtual through Zoom.

Whether you are a rookie or a seasoned player, this virtual event has required position-specific training and elective courses to help you knock your Rotary skills out of the park.

Classes are open to any Rotarian and include sessions on international service, The Rotary Foundation and grants, membership & culture, public image & communication, and operations & club leadership. There will also be a keynote session at 12:15 p.m. by executive coach Val Markos. Click Here To View Complete Schedule.

Swing by from anywhere and get ready to hit the ground running for a winning Rotary season. Don’t let this pitch pass you by — let’s make 2025 the championship year for your club! Stay tuned for registration info soon.

Rotary Expo – Saturday, May 3: Our club is among the many in District 5100 that will participate in the Rotary Expo. This exhibition of everything great about Rotary takes place on Saturday, May 3, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Wingspan Event & Conference Center in Hillsboro.

The Rotary Expo will feature 43 booths, showcasing projects from District 5100 Rotary clubs and partner organizations. The event will also have the Jubitz Family Foundation’s indoor Global Peace Village, which will be showcased at the 2025 Rotary International Convention in Calgary in June. A peace pole will also be planted during the day.

The expo will also include entertainment from a number of local groups as well as the annual District 5100 Rotary Youth Exchange Talent Show.

Our club will be signing up volunteers to man our booth soon. We also plan to have a classic car on site to promote our annual Concours d’Elegance.

Please download the event flyer to share with friends and on your social media platforms. More information will be available soon at expo.district5100.org.

Last Week’s Program: Rotary Youth Citizens of the Month
At last week’s meeting, we had the opportunity to honor two sets of our Rotary Youth Citizens of the Month from the Banks and Gaston school districts. As part of our regular program, each youth citizen received a certificate and a $50 gift card from Frye’s Action Athletics.

Our congratulations to McKenna King of Banks High School, Adelene Stewart of Banks Middle School, and Deztanee Sandoval and Annabelle Rocha from Gaston Sr./Jr. High School!

Club Calendar
Wed., Mar. 19: Crab Feed, 5:30 p.m.
Forest Grove Senior & Community Center, 2037 Douglas St.
No Noon Meeting On Mar. 19

Thurs., Mar. 20: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
via Zoom

Sat., Mar. 22: Garden Committee/Satellite Club Planning Session, 9:30 a.m.
McDougall Garden, Near Big Flag Pole

Wed., Mar. 26: No Meeting

Wed., Apr. 2: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Jenny Coyle, Pacific University

Wed., Apr. 9: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Forest Grove United Church of Christ, 2032 College Way
Program: Youth Citizen of the Month/Club Assembly, Board Elections

Fri., June 6: Steak Feed, 5 p.m.
University Center, Pacific University

Fri., Jan. 18-Sun., July 20
Concours d’Elegance Weekend